Police delete ’insensitive’ tweet

The tweet, sent after a weekend of road crashes that killed nine people, was swiftly deleted. Photo: Twitter screenshot.

An "insensitive" tweet from police that joked about breaking the news of someone's death to family members has prompted an apology from the highest echelons of police management.

The tweet, which has since been deleted, has been widely criticised on social media.

A screenshot of the tweet before it was taken down shows it headed with the words, "When we have to tell someone their family member has died in a crash," accompanied by a photo of comedian Steve Carrell smiling and captioned: "This is the worst."

Police pleaded earlier today for drivers to take more responsibility on the roads, after nine people died in crashes over the weekend.

The Twitter response to the tweet has been swift, with one user describing the tweet as taking the booby prize for "social media fail of the week".

One Twitter user said it was "staggering" that the tweet had even been considered.

A group of teenage boys whose friend died in a car crash last Boxing Day told RNZ's Checkpoint with John Campbell the tweet was "pretty messed up".

"They just meme-ed someone's death."

We apologise for the recent road safety tweet. We quickly realised it was wrong & insensitive & it was immediately deleted. Thx for feedback